Queensland election: how Steven Miles went from underdog to attack dog in the dying days of the campaign

Queensland premier Steven Miles visits a pet shop in Brisbane during the election campaign. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Steven Miles has sand in his shoes. “Sand everywhere,” he says as he fidgets and shifts his stance in front of television cameras in Mackay.

The Queensland election campaign has reached the point where there’s no time to stall for trivial things, like part of a kindergarten sandpit stowed away between the premier’s toes on the 900km flight back to Brisbane. The sand is still there when he walks on stage to speak at the local government conference that afternoon.